LoveoMeter
by Aerysa
Summary: Theme - 67%. Shopping with Kanami somehow turns into love-compatibility testing...


Lol~ This was really quickly thrown together since I had the idea for it. I think it's kind of silly, but kind of cute at the same time.

Another theme story where the theme is "67%".

Maybe some OOC going on, but whatever... ^^

**

* * *

Love-o-Meter**

"Do we _really_ have to?" Misaki asked, struggling to keep the whine from her voice.

"Of course! I'm not even finished yet!"

Sighing loudly, Misaki gave her friend an intense stare, but it did nothing. Kanami continued to beam at her, pleased with how things had turned out. Not only had she managed to drag her shopping in the first place, she had even managed to get Misaki to buy something; and _not_ what she would normally buy.

With much convincing and threatening and just about any tactic she could think of, Kanami had pestered Misaki until she gave in and bought this beautiful lace dress. She had liked it too, but it looked so good on Misaki. There was no way she would have let Misaki walk out of the store without buying it.

Though she had complained that she had no occasion to wear it for, Kanami was still adamant about the purchase. She might not have an occasion now, but it didn't mean that things in the future didn't change. Since Misaki had surrendered to her superior judgment, Kanami would let her off the hook - for now, regarding shopping purchases anyways.

"Come on... Just one last store," Kanami promised.

"That's what you always say..."

"I promise this time! But only because you bought that dress."

"You always say that too," accused Misaki.

"Please? I still want to find a dress too."

"But you bought that floral one at the first store."

"It's not the same. That one is a casual daytime summer dress. I want something like the lace one you got," Kanami explained.

"Then you should have bought it and not forced me to buy it."

"No way!" exclaimed Kanami. "If I did that, you would never buy anything pretty! Besides, it looks better on you than it does on me. I want something that's date-worthy too."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Misaki asked. "You know that no such thing is going to happen."

"Only because you don't let it..."

"What did you say?" Misaki inquired, as Kanami had mumbled something as she turned her back on her.

"I said, hurry up! Or I'll take back my promise and take you to thirty more stores!"

Muttering about the injustices of the world, Misaki finally sighed and made her way into the store. Despite what Kanami might say, the time they spent in one store might as well have been thirty stores... She always spent forever _and_ a lifetime in every single store she visited. She had to thumb through every single rack and examine every article of clothing on sale.

* * *

As promised, Kanami only dragged her into that one store. Since they had finished with shopping, they were onto the part that Misaki liked best - eating. She was glancing around for a nice cafe to visit when she realized that her best friend was no longer with her. Turning around in surprise, she found Kanami standing in front of a small arcade store.

"Kanami, what are you doing?" Misaki called out.

Her only response was to wave her hand, motioning for her to come over. Sighing softly, Misaki turned and went to join her friend. She couldn't believe that something from a store like that would fascinate her friend, to the point that she didn't even bother looking up at her.

When she finally reached where Kanami was standing, Misaki found herself staring at the most embarrassing machine she had ever seen. It was bright pink with white and dark pink hearts decorating the outer shell. The plastic curtain cover was the same shade of pink as the machine. In big bold letters, "Love-o-Meter" was written across it in red.

"What are you looking at this for?" Misaki asked, feeling embarrassed just by standing near it.

"It's a love fortune machine!"

"So...?"

"Oh come on! You know," Kanami stated. "The machines where it tests your compatibility with a person of the opposite gender..."

"Eh? You have someone you like and you want to try it on this silly thing?" Misaki asked in surprise.

"No, but you do..."

"M - Me? Don't be ridiculous," retorted Misaki. "Of course I don't. I wouldn't believe what this silly machine tells me anyways."

"No one said you had to take it like it was etched in stone. It's just for fun!"

"I don't have anyone I like, so you're just wasting your time."

"Oh really...?" Kanami asked with a grin. "Not even a certain foreign exchange student...?"

"I... I'm only acquainted with Li-kun."

Even though she said that, she knew Kanami didn't believe her. Before she could say more, Kanami dragged her through the curtains. When Misaki tried to pull free, she only tightened her grasp on her wrist. Her other hand was digging around in her purse for loose change to use.

"See what a good friend I am?" Kanami asked. "I'll even pay for it for you."

Kanami became preoccupied with putting in her money and inputting the data for the machine to analyze. As a result, Misaki stepped back slightly so that her friend wouldn't see that she was actually interested in the result. Even if it was for fun, she hoped that she would have a decent compatibility with Li-kun.

She didn't think that he would think of her that way, but she found him charming and entertaining. Besides, he was sweet and she enjoyed the limited amount of time that she had spent with him. It was only a slight interest... So she had convinced herself.

"Sheng Shun is his first name, right?"

"Yes..."

"Okay, then here we go!" Kanami exclaimed with a grin.

Misaki watched her hit a final button. The input screen disappeared, replaced by one that said "Please wait for the love-love analysis to be complete". Though it was only meant for fun, Misaki felt her heart skip a beat. What if it said that they were completely incompatible? That would be horrible...

_Oh come on. It's only a machine. It doesn't actually know anything besides our names,_ Misaki told herself.

It took two minutes for the analysis to be completed before the instructions directed them to the printer outlet below. Kanami bent down to take it out and Misaki felt her hands go clammy. Mentally, she knew better than this; that the results didn't actually mean anything. Even so, she was a little nervous to see the results.

Kanami glanced at it and finally handed it over. Taking it from her, Misaki's eyes went straight to the score in the middle of the heart - 67%. Her spirits plunged as the number wasn't extremely bad, like less than 50%, but it still wasn't a good number. All in all, she had to say that she was disappointed. She wouldn't be over-ambitious and hope for 85% or more, but she had hoped for at least 75%.

"It's fine," Kanami said, seeing that she was disappointed. "It was just for fun. Let's go get that dessert that you wanted earlier."

"Okay."

Her friend exited before her and Misaki was stunned when she ran into her. Why would Kanami stand there when she knew that she was following right behind? Pushing her friend a little, Misaki forced her to take a few steps out so she could do the same. When she was standing next to her friend, she realized why Kanami had stopped in the first place.

Seeing Li-kun strolling towards them, Misaki felt a hint of heat touch her cheeks. Of all places to be caught, she was standing just outside of a flashy pink love meter machine. Not only that, but he was the very man she had been testing her compatibility with - even if it were all Kanami's doing in the first place. It wasn't like he would know...

"H - Hi Li-kun," she blurted out before she mentally slapped herself.

He looked startled when he spotted them, but smiled and made his way towards them. She didn't miss the reaction as he glanced at the two of them and the meter machine behind them before he glanced at her again. A slight sense of confusion came across his features, but it was gone just as quickly as it appeared.

"Hello Kirihara-san," he said. "I see you were out shopping."

"Yes well... Kanami wanted to go."

"Hello," Kanami said.

"Hello. I see you both had good returns on your shopping trip."

"Yes, of course."

"Eh um..." Li said, scratching at the back of his head. "So how did your shopping trip ah, lead you to here?"

Misaki blushed even harder when his gaze travelled to the meter behind them. Berating herself for calling out to him in the first place, she bit her lip and turned her gaze towards Kanami for help. She had no clue what she was supposed to say without embarrassing herself further.

"Ah, this? We were doing this for fun. We haven't tried one since our school days," Kanami exclaimed.

"Ah. You have someone you fancy, Kirihara-san?"

"Um..."

"Oh! Sorry," Li replied sheepishly. "I guess I was being too nosy..."

Hoping that he wouldn't misunderstand, Misaki clenched one of her hands into a fist and the other quickly shoved the printout slip in his direction. Then she realized that it was practically the same as confessing her feelings to him and felt herself blush even harder.

She glanced away after he slowly took the slip from her. He didn't say anything for the longest time and she felt the situation grow uncomfortable. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she think about things rationally when she was around him? She should have realized that he wouldn't appreciate her feelings, both because she was older than him and because he would have to return home one day.

"Uh... Me?" he finally asked in disbelief.

"I... It was just for fun!"

"I guess, but um... 67% isn't that good."

"I know," Misaki stated quietly. "But you don't have to believe it, since I think we get along just fine. Besides, it's only for fun."

She finally glanced at him when he didn't reply. He was staring intently at the slip in front of him with a slight frown on his face. Misaki didn't understand why, but didn't say anything as she was still feeling stupid for shoving it in his face to begin with. If only... She usually had better self-control and was more rational than this.

"Um..."

"What is it?" Misaki asked carefully.

"Well... I um... I don't mind... But uh, well... This character for my name is wrong..."

"Eh?"

Li nodded as he turned the paper towards her and pointed out the character that was wrong. As he stood here with Kirihara-san, he felt a little embarrassed to admit that he didn't mind. In fact, he was pleased that she had put his name into the machine. At the same time, he felt that 67% was quite a demeaning value. It wasn't less than half, but still...

"C - Come on," he said, grabbing her hand. "Let's try it again... Maybe it'll be better if we use my name the way it's supposed to be..."

Misaki blushed, but didn't say anything as his hand was wrapped lightly around hers. She wondered if he even realized what he did because she had never known him to be this bold. He even said that he didn't mind that she used him... So wasn't that like saying he returned her affections?

Li put money into the slot. The first screen asked for the female's name and he copied it carefully from the slip of paper he was holding. The next screen asked for the male's name and he input his name with the correct kanji characters. The final screen asked them to wait and his hand tightened around Misaki's as they waited nervously.

Two minutes later, it told them to pull out their printout and both of them glanced at it carefully. They stared at it for a moment longer before they ended up glancing at each other with wide eyes. Finally, they glanced back at the sheet in disbelief as it read 99%.

"Ah, I um... I guess the right characters make a big difference," Li finally stated softly.

"I um... I guess so."

Standing sheltered on the inner side of the curtains, the two of them stared at each other as their own blush was reciprocated on the other's cheeks. Eventually, Li blinked and pulled back in surprise as he quickly dropped her hand. She moved back as well as they both realized how intimate the situation was.

"Um... I'm really, really sorry for grabbing you like that, Kirihara-san," Li stammered out. "I didn't really think before I acted!"

"Ah, no. It's okay... It's my fault for showing you in the first place..."

"No, no... But um... 99% is a good number, wouldn't you agree?"

"Y - Yes, of course," Misaki murmured.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! You were with your friend... And I just barged in like this!"

Misaki shook her head as they stepped back into the real world, only to find that Kanami was nowhere to be seen. If she didn't know better, she would say that Kanami had miraculously orchestrated the situation to happen like this. But even so, she knew that wasn't within her powers.

"Um... I'm really sorry," Li stated when he also saw that she was gone. "I didn't mean to butt in like this..."

"No... It's okay... She's always like this..."

"Oh... But..."

"We were done shopping," Misaki informed him. "She got distracted by the machine and uh... Well... You know..."

Li nodded as he scratched at his head. He didn't mean to run into her. Neither did he imagine that she would try something like this. Or that he would even barge in and force her to redo it since they got his name wrong the first time around. And with the new number that they got...

"She'll probably call later to tell me why she disappeared," Misaki said, hoping he wouldn't feel bad. "We were only going to go for desserts..."

"Oh... Well, then... If um, you don't mind, do you want to go with me?"

"I... I would like that," Misaki replied with pink cheeks.


End file.
